Bargains
by Nixa Jane
Summary: She was beginning to think she had made a mistake, but it was a mistake she'd be dead without and she didn't know how to fix it.


Bargains

Author's Notes: I've been on a CSI writing spree, and haven't been able to write Farscape for awhile. I have done a bit more on my Peacekeeper Confessions series as well as toying with a sequel for Drown with Me and a little tag to Terra Firma that I probably won't ever post…but this is the first thing I've finished in a long time, and it is very short, I know, but I missed Farscape and had to write _something_…

* * *

She slowed when she heard soft voices, speaking in tense whispers, and carefully approached the corner, her hand lowering instinctively to hover over her weapon. She got a glimpse of shining black leather the moment the next hall was in view, which in itself was no longer cause for alarm. Scorpius was among them now, by her hand, and she believed he was truly intent on helping them. 

However, the fact that he was leaning forward, leather incased hands planted firmly against the wall of Moya with John held between them, was not so lightly dismissed. Her first reaction was to draw her weapon but she stilled her hands, tilted her head back and observed instead. She wanted to know what Scorpius was saying to John when he didn't think she was around, and she had no doubts that she could stop him before he could do John any real harm, if it should come to that.

She'd just aim for his cooling rods instead of his armored suit. Or the small weak spot at the base of his neck. She wasn't sure if he knew she knew about that, but she was pretty sure she didn't imagine the way he tried not to turn his back on her for long. Promises or not, he trusted her little more than she did him.

"What's it gonna take, Scorpy Sue?" John was asking, in that charmingly sarcastic voice he reserved for Scorpius. "This little love affair is over. Now, I've promised not to hurt you, and I won't, but I'm not going to make nice either, so get the _frell_ away from me."

John started to duck beneath Scorpius arm, but Scorpius was quicker, and his hand shot out to rest at the hollow of John's throat, holding him in place. Aeryn's hand had drawn her weapon, but she paused, confused, because Scorpius's grip was more caressing than violent—of course, she wasn't entirely sure that was better.

"We need to talk, John," he whispered. That was the voice Scorpius used, his counterpart to John's, the one he only spoke for him. "We're on the same side now."

John swallowed, but he looked more irritated than nervous, or Aeryn would have ended it right there. She needed to know, though, what Scorpius was after with this, so she could decide what had to be done with him. "I've heard that before," John said, his voice quiet now, too, almost sweet, but she wasn't fooled, and neither was Scorpius. There was steel beneath the words, and lurking in the depths of John's eyes.

"Together, we could end this, John," Scorpius snapped, that burning passion he had for nothing else slipping in to mix with his own words, another perfect counterpart, as though he and John were connected somehow—two sides of a coin. "Why are you fighting me?"

John reached up, grabbing Scorpius gloved wrist and prying the fingers off of his throat. "Survival instinct," he said, slowly. "I'm a primitive lower race; don't tell me you've forgotten."

Aeryn almost smiled, because this was the John she knew, the one he wouldn't let her see much anymore. He was always hiding behind walls with her now, if not by moving to the next room then simply by lowering them down across his soul to keep her out. She didn't know how she felt about the fact John almost seemed more at ease with Scorpius than he did with her.

"You will help me," Scorpius hissed. "You must."

"Or what," John asked. "This isn't the Scorpy show anymore." John was leaning forward into Scorpius's space now. "This is my turf, we play by rules. Understand?"

Scorpius took a step back, tilting his head a fraction lower, in a parody of submissiveness that did not fool Aeryn let alone fool John. He smiled, widely, something predatory hid beneath a failing attempt at sincerity, but John held his ground against its weight. "Yes, John, of course."

John pushed himself off of the wall, adjusting his leather jacket with false fastidiousness. "Stay away from me," he said. "Stay away from my friends. Haunt the lower tiers like a good little megalomaniac and don't ever, _ever_, try something like this again."

Scorpius's eyes rose, meeting John's with a calculating look in them he didn't bother to hide, but he said nothing. John watched him for a moment, and then with a shake of his head started down the opposite hall. Scorpius watched him go, the smile still playing across his lips.

"Did you need something, Officer Sun?" Scorpius didn't turn as he spoke, but Aeryn could still hear the smile in his voice. She let her pistol drop back in its holster, cursing herself for not realizing Scorpius might have realized she was there. She stepped away from the corner, standing in the middle of the hall defensively, as Scorpius turned to her.

"I am surprised you didn't interfere, but I suppose you were still assessing the situation." The spark in his eyes was clear, and evidence enough he knew the answer to the question already.

"I don't trust you," Aeryn said tightly. "I trust you not to harm him, because you need him, and I trust you to help us out in a crisis if only to save yourself and safeguard him, but I do not trust you not to use him, and I will not allow that."

Scorpius still looked amused, and in another situation, the fact that he was so obviously not intimidated might have annoyed her. As it was, it gave her chills.

"You owe me your life," he said simply. "I saved you, Officer Sun, and we have an arrangement. I will not breach it, not unless you give me reason."

The Peacekeeper in her believed him, because she was trained to trust the word of her superiors in the ranks. The part of her that John had brought to life, the larger part, knew that her so-called superiors had been lying to her all her life. She took few people at their word now, just the handful that lived on this ship, all of them but the one asking for it and his sidekick, John's latest reclamation project.

He was smiling again, which was something about him she had always thought strange, because Scarrens didn't really smile and Peacekeepers rarely did, and Scorpius was built from them both. It was unnerving, as it always was, because she was never entirely sure of the cause.

He began to walk away, the same direction John had taken she noted with some trepidation. Before she knew what she was doing she had pulled out her weapon again, and aimed it at the back of his neck. "Stop," she demanded coolly.

He paused, his head tilted slightly in her direction though he did not turn around. Maybe she had misjudged him; she was sure now she was wrong to have believed he was wary to turn his back on her, because he didn't appear afraid of her at all.

"John may not go back on his promise, but you touch him again," she said, "and I'll kill you myself."

Scorpius didn't look back as he started walking again, but she didn't imagine the low hiss, and she tilted her chin up, almost hoping he would give her a reason to fire the weapon she had aimed at his back. Without Scorpius here, things with John would be so much easier to fix, but however much she wanted to, she couldn't forget—without Scorpius she wouldn't be here at all.

_The End. _


End file.
